The Data behind the Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games is now well underway in Glasgow with 4,500 athletes taking part and many thousands of anticipated visitors and spectators.  In the build-up to the Games, the significant investment, redevelopment and regeneration of the city has been particularly interesting to monitor. 

The impressive Athletes Village has been built over 35 hectares, which is alongside the Emirates Stadium – a state of the art facility that opened in 2012, with a seating capacity of over 5,000 spectators.  The Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome has also been developed alongside the stadium, while the SECC Precinct, which is just short of 2 miles from Glasgow’s centre, forms the largest single venue of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Having run some analysis through our Promap and Envirocheck systems, it has provided us with some great insight into the history of Glasgow and, in particular, the areas that have been subject to recent redevelopment in readiness for the Games.  

When looking at all of Glasgow’s venues, the first thing that we quickly identified is that there are over 4,800 instances of historic land use within the immediate vicinities.

The SECC Precinct has 36 instances of potentially contaminative historic land use within a mile of the site just from the earliest map alone, all of which are of a diverse nature: from transport manufacturing & repair, saw-milling, metal casting, through to cargo handling, railways and even the site of a former cemetery.

Historic maps also show that the SECC Precinct has been built on the site of the old Queen’s Dock. With the decline in shipping traffic, the dock became redundant and was filled in with rubble from the demolition of St Enoch station in the late 1970’s.

The redevelopment of the various sites in and around Glasgow really goes to show that past land use shouldn't limit or restrict future use or development.  By accessing the right data, it provides a detailed picture into the past use of the land, meaning the correct remediation can take place to enable future progress. 

With a current emphasis on building more residential properties across the UK – including re-purposing and utilising unused brownfield land or sites – it just goes to show that understanding the past use of the land can help transform an area for today and also for future generations to come. 

Landmark Information Group Signs Deal to Provide Site-Specific Environmental Risk Reports for Sites in Australia

We are pleased to announce a partnership agreement with Melbourne-based Spatial Vision to provide their specialist Environmental Risk Assessment report, CheckSite, to the UK market.

CheckSite, which will be available through Landmark’s Envirocheck International Data Collection service, delivers site-specific data to consultants, developers and property purchasers, enabling them to carry out environment risk assessments for sites in Australia. Access to this service will save clients valuable time and money and will enable the production of professional reports detailing any potential risks.

David Mole, Business Development Director, Landmark Information Group said: “We are very excited to announce this new partnership with Spatial Vision. Until now, it has been an extremely time consuming and often expensive process for UK-based consultants to source site-specific environmental and historical information for sites in Australia, meaning that often sites and properties may have been purchased without having thoroughly investigated potential environmental risks. CheckSite provides a fast and cost effective solution and we are expecting strong interest.”

The ability to order Landmark’s Envirocheck for sites in Great Britain will become available to Spatial Vision’s customers in the very near future.

Glenn Cockerton, Managing Director of Spatial Vision, commented: “Spatial Vision welcomes the agreement between Landmark and Spatial Vision. It represents an association which will benefit CheckSite in Australia enormously as we continue to develop and expand the service throughout the country.”

Mark Milner, CEO of Landmark Information Group, commented: “A key focus for the business is on expanding our reach into new markets. An effective way of doing this is by partnering with companies such as Spatial Vision, which have an established footprint in their local market.”

CheckSite draws together over 30 authoritative data layers from 12 organisations and delivers the information ready to use map-based reports. CheckSite comprises a suite of four reports; a site report, an environmental report, a historical report and a geology and groundwater report.

For more information, or to order a CheckSite report, visit www.envirocheck.co.uk or telephone: 0844 844 9952.